The All-new Mazda Naturally Aspirated Mzr 1.3l Miller-cycle Engine

Mazda Motor Corporation has a history of developing powerful engines like for instance, the Wankel Rotary engine. Mazda is the only automaker that was able to surmount all the difficult technical challenges that came with the RE technology and even went further by mass producing the rotary engine. Then finally in 1991, the Mazda 787B made history with the rotary engine when it became the only Japanese car ever to claim victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race.

And for this year, the Hiroshima-based automaker will once again make another history with its newly developed naturally aspirated MZR 1.3L Miller-cycle engine, which will power the all-new Demio also known as Mazda2 in overseas markets. The new Demio is scheduled to go on sale this coming July in Japan.

The new naturally aspirated MZR 1.3 L Miller-cycle engine will be made to function in combination with Mazda’s first continuously variable transmission (CVT). The engine will then assist the new Demio to achieve a 10 to 15 fuel economy of 23.0km/L, a significant improvement of approximately 20 percent over the 19.2 km/L rating of the current model.

The new naturally aspirated MZR 1.3 L Miller-cycle engine is part of the current MZR 1.3L DOHC aluminum engine. It employs a delayed closing of the intake valves in order to reduce pumping losses and improve thermal efficiency through a higher expansion ratio. The Intake valve timing is also optimized in the process by the Sequential Valve Timing System to improve fuel efficiency over the current MZR 1.3 L engine especially when cruising and accelerating. In connection with the CVT that transfers torque at low speeds without power loss and eliminates gear-shift shock, the result is a setup that achieves excellent fuel efficiency as well as smooth and exhilarating ride.

In addition to the new, highly efficient powertrain, the all-new Demio has been made approximately 100kg lighter than its predecessor. This remarkable reduction in weight was achieved through “weight reduction techniques, which have resulted in agile handling and significant improvement in fuel economy.

The Demio model equipped with the naturally aspirated MZR 1.3L Miller-cycle engine combined with the CVT transmission will achieve a fuel economy that is rated as 20 percent better than the level specified by Japan’s 2010 fuel economy standards. Exhaust emissions will also be reduced by up to 75 percent lower than the 2005 standards which is in accordance to Japan’s Super Ultra-Low Emissions Vehicle (SU-LEV) standard and qualifies the Demio for Green Tax exemptions.

Mazda through its sustainable Zoom-Zoom plan that was announced last March 2007, it has express its desire to pursue the harmony between driving pleasure and environmental and safety features. The maker of the Mazda hoods has also stress that it is working on for an advanced Zoom-Zoom world. And of course as an automaker it will continue to create captivating design that would provide customers with continuous driving pleasure as well as to further develop and improved safety and environmental technologies.

About Mazda Motor Corporation

It was in the year 1929 when Mazda Motor Corporation has started manufacturing tools and later on branched out into production of trucks for commercial use. The first passenger car models that Mazda produced were launched in the early 1960s. It was also in this same year that Mazda started developing the rotary engines.

Mazda is headquartered in Hiroshima in western Japan. At present Mazda ranks as one of Japan’s leading automakers and exports cars to the United States and Europe for over 30 years. It’s overseas sales account for more than half of its total turnover.

Mazda has two main production sites in Japan and 19 overseas facilities. The overseas sites include joint ventures based in United States, and in Thailand. Ford Motor Corporation owns one-third controlling interest in Mazda.